Jind

I doubt that you can for single purchases of plugins and I don't think anyone has asked for that, but the question is more for future purchases than for past purchases.  That statement from Softube seems to be aimed at people who purchased the Softube Mix Bundle when Cakewalk offered it.  The question is, will they make available the ProChannel versions is someone purchased the native Mix Bundle tomorrow from say MusiciansFriend.


Just clarifying.

From the website:

For a limited time through January 31, 2012, the Mix Bundle will be sold at a special price of $179 (retail $299) from the Cakewalk store. Note that SONAR X1 Producer Expanded is necessary for use of the ProChannel Module versions. For existing owners of the respective Mix Bundle plug-ins, the ProChannel versions are a free update as part our new 1.3.3 Windows VST installers!

 
(my underlining]
 
I wonder if owners of single plugins will get the ProChannel version when they update to 1.3.3! (Not that I should care, though...)
 
Just read my own quote... Sometimes I feel like I have myself on 'block'...

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk
]

Hi-

Let me clarify and end all the speculation. The Softube Mix Bundle has NOT been discontinued. It was always meant to be a limited-time offer to Cakewalk customers. We extended it a few times but agreed to end it in April. To purchase this you will need to go through an authorized Softube dealer.

The promotion itself was a huge success and we did try to give fair warning that the special offer would be ending.

I'm not totally buying this. Cake has special offers all the time on their products and those center around pricing, not product life cycle. That is the product culture Cake has created and we're accustomed to as customers. The softube bundle was a brand new offering for PC - no thought that it would be a fly-by product for PC. 

Based on what you posted Andrew, I would be thinking all of your products are on a fire sale and will be discontinued after the special offer period ended. I truly planned to buy this bundle over the summer and I'm disappointed that is was not a solid product offering that I could count on. It appeared that Cake was going to be my one stop shopping center for the tools I would buy. And I was actually onboard with the simplicity of that... Now, I feel a little duped.  

Makes me wonder if I can trust that I can pickup the concrete limiter later as well since I know it's been on a promotional sale a few times already. 

musicroom

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk
]

Hi-

Let me clarify and end all the speculation. The Softube Mix Bundle has NOT been discontinued. It was always meant to be a limited-time offer to Cakewalk customers. We extended it a few times but agreed to end it in April. To purchase this you will need to go through an authorized Softube dealer.

The promotion itself was a huge success and we did try to give fair warning that the special offer would be ending.

I'm not totally buying this. Cake has special offers all the time on their products and those center around pricing, not product life cycle. That is the product culture Cake has created and we're accustomed to as customers. The softube bundle was a brand new offering for PC - no thought that it would be a fly-by product for PC. 

Based on what you posted Andrew, I would be thinking all of your products are on a fire sale and will be discontinued after the special offer period ended. I truly planned to buy this bundle over the summer and I'm disappointed that is was not a solid product offering that I could count on. It appeared that Cake was going to be my one stop shopping center for the tools I would buy. And I was actually onboard with the simplicity of that... Now, I feel a little duped.  

Makes me wonder if I can trust that I can pickup the concrete limiter later as well since I know it's been on a promotional sale a few times already. 

My view is in all fairness that Cakewalk do offer promotional offers of third party products which are only available via the store during the promotion.

IIRC Some of the AAS stuff has been available from the store 'only' as a promotion and then it's a case afterward of buying them directly.

However being as there is a direct tie-in with Sonar with the Softube modules I still feel there would be some benefit gained by making them directly available from Cakewalk as well as Softube by both parties and customers alike.

But that's merely a view and really not my business.

Softube


Hello everyone!

Torsten from Softube here. I'm glad to see so much interest in our ProChannel modules :) We think they turned out great and that the PC is a fantastic concept.

I just wanted to reiterate what Andrew from Cakewalk said above. Also, for avoidance of doubt: Yes - when you buy the Softube Mix Bundle from an authorized Softube dealer you will get the ProChannel modules as well. You will also get the ProChannel modules for free if you buy the plugins separately from our web store. The modules are always part of the plugins.

If you have any questions, thoughts or suggestions, please send an email to our support or sales address. Contact information can be found at www.softube.com

Cheers,
Torsten

Eh? I've been told the whole concept is rubbish, can one of the naysayers that convinced me please have a word.

[/trolling]

I'm a little with Musicroom on this one, while I'm extemely happy that Softube will continue offering the ProChannel versions to customers who have either already purchased the plugins or those that will purchase them in the future, I find it a bit odd (to say the least) that Cakewalk will no longer be selling them, or even advertising them (additional modules for a core feature of X1 Producer Expanded) in their own store, if even at the list price.

Even if, as Andrew states, it was a successful, albeit limited time offer (which I think most read the limited portion relating to the pricing that was offered), it just seems shortsighted to not think that Cakewalk customers would come to the Cakewalk store for upgrades to a component, that while can be used as a VST, has been customized for use in a proprietary feature of it's flagship product.  While the Softube Mix Bundle mini site off of the ProChannel Expanded page is still there, the link from Buy Now would lead one to believe it is no longer available at all.  You would think a little foresight that if it were still being offered through Softube authorized dealers with the ProChannel "skins' being provided by Softube themselves they would update it so it was clear one could still get this functionality from a key feature of Sonar X1 Producer Expanded.

As always, this is just the observations of an outsider with no knowledge of the original deal.  But I'm sure Softube still wants Sonar customers and it would be of benefit of both companies involved if the ability to still purchase it and get the added functionality was clear before they decided to list it as unavailable.

As always, individual mileage may vary.

But, I can see where all involved would not want to continue that kind of launch indefinintely.

Being as it's a web transaction anyway I don't see how it affects regional distributors. 

I can't see where providing a link from the informative Module page here direct to Softube's main site would be less helpful than signage that currently says this product is no longer available.  That was the very thing that raised alarm in the first place.

Anderton

Jind


I'm a little with Musicroom on this one, while I'm extemely happy that Softube will continue offering the ProChannel versions to customers who have either already purchased the plugins or those that will purchase them in the future, I find it a bit odd (to say the least) that Cakewalk will no longer be selling them, or even advertising them (additional modules for a core feature of X1 Producer Expanded) in their own store, if even at the list price.

I don't know Cakewalk's particular situation, but I do know how this works with other companies. Softube is an independent manufacturer with its own distribution chain. Companies that depend on their distributors want to keep them happy, which means not having them be undercut or face competition from others. This is why, for example, one distributor might have an exclusive for the US, and another, an exclusive for Europe and yet another, an exclusive for South America.
 
Cakewalk is clearly not in the business of being a distributor, except for their own products or products from independents who want to take advantage of Cakewalk's distribution (e.g., my Advanced Workshop videos - if Cakewalk doesn't have the X1 mailing list, I don't know who does). They don't even distribute products from Roland, their parent company.
 
I could easily see that Softube, their distributors, and Cakewalk would see an advantage to offering a limited-time special through Cakewalk: it gets the word out, it gives a bump to sales, and I think many distributors would assume that people would like the Softube products and when they buy more in the future, they'll buy them from the distributors. But, I can see where all involved would not want to continue that kind of launch indefinintely.

I can understand this reasoning, it's more the second part of my post that seems like bad planning to me.  As Jonbouy noted, the current Mix Bundle page on Cakewalks site gives the appearance that the product is no longer available with it Buy Now link to nowhere.  I would have thought that with the "special" ending it would be stated clearly that it was still available with at least a link to Softube's online store.  This is a key feature of Cakewalk's core product after all - seems like one of those less than thought through efforts.

Jonbouy

But, I can see where all involved would not want to continue that kind of launch indefinintely.

Being as it's a web transaction anyway I don't see how it affects regional distributors. 

I can't see where providing a link from the informative Module page here direct to Softube's main site would be less helpful than signage that currently says this product is no longer available.  That was the very thing that raised alarm in the first place.

I addressed the question that was posed about why Cakewalk isn't selling it any more by comparing this to previous examples I've seen happen with other companies.
 
As to web transactions, you'll note that web sites that sell direct often do so at MSRP so they don't undercut dealers, and when they do offer specials, coordinate with the distribution chain.
 
As to the rest, as I said, I don't know Cakewalk's particular situation - whether there were contractual obligations, whether they haven't gotten around to updating the page, whatever. There are always details involved.
 
Clearly the takeaway from all this is the package is still available, and you can buy it from Softube or their distribution chain.

I found the mix bundle on audiodeluxe.com for 250.00, which is a great price.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm slowly getting back into reading this forum, so I'll head over there as well.

Jonbouy

Resonant Order


I found the mix bundle on audiodeluxe.com for 250.00, which is a great price.

Yes, a good heads up and a reminder that this forum's 'Software' section is a fantastic feature of the place.

They don't miss much down there so if you hear of something going down and want to share it with others and likewise want to see what's hot just now it's a great place to check out.

I've learned about a lot of great stuff their that perhaps I wouldn't have known about had they just been mentioned in a thread like this.